


Learning to Shine

by nightbright



Category: Akash: Path of the Five (Visual Novel)
Genre: Adorable, Alternate Universe, Childhood, Childhood Friends, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Drama, First Crush, First Love, Fluff, Friendship, Growing Up is Hard, Headcanon, Holding Hands, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Sweetness, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, carefree!Aurora, sad!Ignatius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 00:06:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22046680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightbright/pseuds/nightbright
Summary: Young Ignatius's spark begins to burn out under the weight of his family's expectations. Fortunately, Aurora knows how to cheer up her firey friend.
Relationships: Ignatius/Aurora
Kudos: 6





	Learning to Shine

**Author's Note:**

> This is a work of fanfiction for Akash Path of the Five, please go play the game and support these fine creators of magic. (Seriously, if you haven't, go now! What are you waiting for!)
> 
> Game Prequel Fanfic, probably doesn't have spoilers but it touches on in game content so if you don't like any spoiling... consider yourself warned... AU headcannon.

There’s a boy sitting at the firepit near their dorms. Aurora knows this must be Ignatius, she’s been looking for him since lunchtime, but she’s never seen him quite like this. His shoulders are hunched in and his knees are folded up against his chest. Today, after a long week of family instructor meetings, progress reports and awkward conversations, all their families had finally left Akash for the journey back to their home villages. Ignatius’s had been the last to leave shortly before noon. He didn’t leave with them but no one had seen him since. Now he’s here. Against the bright firelight and star filled sky, he looks like a dark silhouette of coal and the fire looks bigger than he does.

He doesn’t seem to notice her approaching. His face is closed with anger and his cheeks are damp with tears. He crumples up a piece of parchment and throws it into the flames. His shoulders shake with noiseless sobs as he tears apart another piece, crumples it into a ball and throws it in. Quietly and carefully, she moves closer. When he reaches for a page, she’s close enough to make out what it is. It’s not letters or scraps he’s crumpling in his hands. It’s pages of his beloved sketchbook which sits in a pile of ruin by his side. Her heart aches.

Moving quickly, she grabs his hand before he can throw it in the flames. 

“What.. hey!” His arm jerks back but she’s holding too tight for him to shake off. She unfolds his fist in her hands. To her surprise, he doesn’t resist as she rescues the page inside his clenched fingers. His eyes dart away and when her hold loosens, his hand jerks back. “What do you think you’re doing?” he says but the tone is soft and flat. It’s all wrong for her sweet, hot tempered friend, like the fight has gone out of him.

“Isn’t it obvious?” She smooths the page out on her lap. It’s a lovely little meadow lark cozy in its nest, just looking at it makes her heart smile, like Spring is living inside the page. “I’m saving Spring.” 

“Whatever. Keep it if you want. They’re just garbage anyway.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Why? It’s the truth. Nobody gives a shit about them, they don’t do anything useful.”

“Of course they do!”

“Right. They’re soo useful. Everyone is just dying to learn how to make them too. The Elders get requests every year to make a class on it because it just so damned helpful.” His voice is dripping with sarcasm. It’s painfully clear now just what his family had been so loudly arguing with him about this week. He reaches for another page and she pounces, wrapping her arms around him and pinning his to his sides before his hands make it to the book. “Hey! Stop that!”

“Uh-uh, not gonna happen until you stop trying to burn Spring.”

“I already told you, you can have the stupid page, let me go!”

“No, you’ll just go after the rest of them.”

“Fine. Alright, I won’t… I won’t burn any more of them. Ok?” She unwraps her arms from around him but captures his hands in hers just in case. This time, he doesn’t try to pull away. “Why do you care anyway? It’s not a big deal.”

“You’re wrong, it totally is. Not everyone takes time to make the seasons stay on a page, not birds or plants or any of it. I don’t think any of the Elders even know how, they have to get people to do it for them so it’s not like they could teach us anyway but that doesn’t mean it’s not useful. We use drawings in class all the time.” She smiles at him brightly. 

Ignatius opens his mouth like he’s about to protest. She hurries on, cutting him off before he can get a word out “And Sol’s helpers are really special too, they do know how to draw and they’re always busy making maps and sketches and all sorts of things all the time. There’s no way we could look at rare plants or other lands or people once they’re gone. It’s super helpful, see? Besides, not even sweet rolls can do your drawings can.”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“They make your heart happy don’t they?”

“Ye-yes… but what does that have to do with anything?”

“It’s everything silly! You should do whatever makes your heart happiest. When your heart smiles it shows through in everything you do. If what you do will never make you happy then why would you keep doing it? Why would you want to? Besides, your drawings don’t just make your heart smile, they make other people’s hearts smile too... Not just once, like a sweet roll or a good soup, but for a long time. That’s special, you know?”

She squeezes his hands gently to catch his attention and his eyes dart to hers. She grins widely “You’ve taught your hands to make amazing things. Just because those things aren’t making sweet rolls or shaping out hammers doesn’t make them any less useful. You should be proud of what you can do.”

“Hey, you’re right. I… I guess I never thought of it that way before.” His shoulders relax and a shy smile lifts the corners of him mouth. “Thanks… Uh you can let go now.”

“Oh right.” She giggles and gives his hands a gentle squeeze before releasing them “Promise you’ll remember next time you think about burning anything?” Her grin stretches ear to ear, brimming with cocky confidence that she’s won this battle. He snatches his hands away, blushing bright red.

“Ye-yes. Alright. I p-promise.”

“Good. Come on then. We should get back before anyone gets too worried, it’s getting kind of late. You missed dinner but I have some sweet rolls back in our dorms if you’d like.”

“Heh, alright. Just… wait.” He scopes up the loose pile of pages that made up his sketchbook and straightens them and holds them close in one arm carefully before getting up “There. Got them.” He hesitates for a moment and then offers her his arm. She beams, taking it happily nearly skipping toward the dorm and he can't help but laugh as he tries to persuading her to stop. "Come on settle down a little. I'm going to drop them if you keep that up." She stops so abruptly that he almost drops them anyway but quickly regains his hold. Her mischievous, happy eyes are still dancing and she smiles brightly every time he looks over at her. A hot blush climbs from his neck until he can feel his ears burning. 

Lux is waiting at the dorms, a worried look on his face. He rushes up and to Ignatius’s surprise it isn’t Aurora that he’s fretting on, “Hey are you alright? What happened to your sketchbook? Did you fall? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, I just… everything’s ok, really.” Blush that had been fading crawls back over his neck. 

“Oh good. We were all really worried about you. Oh, just a moment.” Lux disappears into his room and comes back with fabric bundle that smells distinctly like curry buns. “I know  _ someone _ saved you sweet rolls but I thought you might need some proper food.”

“That's really nice... uhm... Thanks.” He mutters shyly. 

“Anytime.”

“Hey, sweet rolls are proper food.” Aurora protests.

“Of course, proper dessert food.” Lux laughs, “Well, I’m glad you’re alright Ignatius. Sleep well, both of you.”

“Night Lux! ... I guess I should go too. See you in the morning!” Aurora gives his hand a last gentle squeeze and then quickly walks off to her room. "Goodnight Ignatius."

“G-goodnight.” for a moment he stands in the hallway, stunned before the smell of food reminds him of just how long it's been since he last ate.

When he steps into his room though he doesn't feel very hungry anymore, just cold. Ignatius looks at the bare walls, well made bed piled high with blankets and neatly stacked scrolls of half finished classwork. The space he’s kept would make his family proud but it’s not really his space. He looks at the pile of papers he’s set down on his desk, his drawings. He chews at the curry rolls and thinks, really thinks about what he wants to do.

He knows what he should do, what everyone in his family wants him to do. None of it is interesting to him or fun, he feels miserable just thinking about being sucked in and carrying the heavy burden of the duties they think he should be proud to take. He knows that won’t make him happy and he doesn’t think it ever will. He loves to draw and it does make him happy. Thinking about doing it for the rest of his days fills him with joy, not dread. He turns Aurora's words over in his mind. It can't really be that simple but it gives him hope, something that's been in short supply for him recently. 

Decided, he searches for tacks and the slowly covers the corner wall by his bed with his drawings until each one has found a home there. He steps back and looks at it. He can feel something shift in him, like a key turning it its lock. 

This space isn’t just a blank slate anymore, it’s his space. His space. He can do what he wants with it. That night, he sleeps better than any night he can remember since leaving home.

A package sits against his door when he opens it to go out the next morning. Curious, he opens it. Inside is a bundle of parchment stitched together on one side into a sketchbook and on the cover it says “don’t forget spring”, he rolls his eyes, as if he would forget his promise or anything else about last night anytime soon. 

In class, he smiles to himself and opens the book to its first page… and stares. On it is a clumsy drawing of a bird that looks nothing like his meadowlark sticking out its tongue at him. His smile grows and grows until he can’t help it and stifles a laugh.

“Ignatius!”

“Sorry Elder.” He tries to look serious and scribbles notes until Elder Borasco turns back around. Looking back down again he almost laughs again but catches himself this time. Aurora barely muffles her own short laugh beside him. When their eyes meet he smiles shyly and looks away, blushing hard.

Turning the page, he begins to draw. Aurora peers curiously over at his paper.

This time when his sketch starts to fill the page, he can feel it: his heart is smiling with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt:
> 
> “You should only fall in love with a person who enjoys your madness. Not an idiot who forces you to be normal.”― Elin Peer, Black


End file.
